


Generations 10: Newlyweds

by Fier



Series: Generations [11]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Married Characters, Married Couple, Married Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25676950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fier/pseuds/Fier
Summary: It's a very quiet story in which a lot happens but little is described. The Mulder's spend a quiet week at home learning the ins and outs of living together.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: Generations [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857445
Kudos: 10





	Generations 10: Newlyweds

**Author's Note:**

> **Title** : Generations 10. Newlyweds  
>  **Author** : Macspooky
> 
> Hi folks. I'm back to post again. I hope I have the length down pat this time cause I'm not in the mood for another posting nightmare!
> 
> This is a very sedate piece, an attempt to give Mulder and Scully a week of peace. This is kind of a dull little" go no where" story about the first week of Dana and Fox's marriage, (mine - I'll let Windsinger design her own honeymoon if she wants. In fact, I think it would be fun if she did), a time when they have to begin learning to live with each other full time. No excitement folks except in the bedroom. There's lots of that, but it will have to be in your imaginations. I just set the scene. You fill in the blanks. I'll rate it PG13. All the usual Fox, CC and 1013 disclaimers apply here.
> 
> I KNOW they'd never want to use this story.

Dana woke up in the middle of the night. The soft nightlight glowing from the nearby bathroom reflected itself against the face of her sleeping husband...HER husband. She could hardly believe it.

Had it been only two years ago that those awful men had assigned her to work with him, to debunk his work, to spy on him? What a shock it had been to walk into his office in the basement of the FBI building and see the handsome young man. She had been attracted to him even then in a physical sense, although he certainly had gone out of his way to make her feel unwelcome. Now she was his wife, his life's partner. He was sleeping so deeply, so peacefully. Such rest was a rare blessing for him. Dana hoped...prayed...she had made him happy.

She thought she had. He had seemed satisfied. She had been so worried, so afraid that maybe Jack had been right about her, that she was the Ice Queen...no.. she wouldn't think about that now...Jack had been wrong. She was normal and responsive and passionate. Her "Spook" had proven that to her with his patience and his gentle touch.

She could put the past safely behind her now and think about the future she and Fox would build together, a future based on mutual love and respect and a great deal of passion. She was sure there would always be passion, that those beautiful hands would always send shivers down her spine and bring her ecstasy.

"I love you, Fox Mulder." she whispered in his ear, "You've done more for me than you'll ever know." She knew he wouldn't hear. She wouldn't wake him for the world right now. She nestled down and fell asleep again. Dana never felt him stir beside her. Her beloved Fox partially woke long enough to make certain his Dana was still with him then fell back into deep dreamless sleep.

Fox Mulder came into the house carrying a half a gallon of milk, real milk, not that awful skim stuff that Dana drank, although he had bought her a quart of it for personal consumption. He also had a loaf of bread and a bag from the local book store. He was delighted. A long awaited second novel in a sci fi series he had started had finally come out, and his plan was to spend the evening relaxing and reading. He probably wouldn't even turn on the TV, although he didn't care if his wife did. His wife...the words moved him. Sometimes he couldn't quite believe it. He had a wife, a large family...nieces, nephews, brothers, and a sister ,even if she was Melissa. He had a mother, a real woman who loved him like a mom was supposed to love a son, even though she hadn't given birth to him. His wife, his very own Mrs. Mulder, was standing in the kitchen with a frying pan on the stove and a pile of sliced tomatoes, bread, and cheese nearby. It sounded so odd to him...Mrs. Mulder...as though it was his mother he was thinking about...but no, it was his lovely Dana...his Mrs. Mulder...well, Dr. Mulder...but there was something wonderful about "Mrs."

"Where have you been, Spookster?" she asked. "I send you to the deli, and you disappear forever."

"Missed me that much did you?" he inquired. He set out the milk and bread. "Took a detour through the bookstore and got a book I'd been looking for. Bought you the new Phyllis Whitney novel." He bent over and gave her a kiss on the lips as she frowned at the whole milk and made noises about clogging arteries. As usual she smelled pretty.

"Thanks." She smiled. She knew that he found the fact that she read romance novels amusing. He had teased her enough about it in the past. It was his revenge for her having found out about the adult videos he kept in his draw, the one's that weren't his. She reached up with her lips and gave him a buzz on the chin. She had already read it, but wouldn't dream of telling him. He was so sweet. "Just grilled cheese with tomato sandwiches for dinner. I'm feeling lazy tonight," she informed him.

"Sounds good to me." He grinned. "You worked hard at my apartment today. Particularly the work you did on the couch."

She laughed. "Well, that quickie business is a difficult concept for a beginner like me to grasp, Mulder. It wasn't my fault that it took me so long to get it right, and we had to try so many times."

"Right. And you don't scream louder than Bridget Feeney either"

he chucked as he pinched her bottom.

"Go read your book, Wolfenstein. I'll bring your sandwiches in a few minutes," she laughed moving out of pinching range. As he left the room she began heating the pan to make the quick dinner. She had promised herself that she wouldn't do any unpacking that night even though she wanted to. She was going to spend the evening being with him and being deleriously happy doing not much of anything. Besides, once they started unpacking, her small apartment was never going to be the same. They hadn't had much choice but for him to move his things to her place. It wasn't huge, but it was bigger than his cramped space and closer to work.

He lit a fire in the fireplace, settled down in her recliner and began to read, keeping a promise he had made to himself not to turn on the evening news. The book grabbed him immediately. He knew he was going to enjoy it. In a few minutes, she came in the room and set a plate of sandwiches down on the end table beside him with a glass of dark chocolate milk. He wondered how she knew he liked it that way.

He didn't realize that it didn't take any kind of brilliance to know that he was just a big kid at heart, and kids could never get enough chocolate in their milk. He thought she was wonderfully intuitive.

"Thanks," he said sliding his hand around her waist as she walked by. She settled herself on the couch with a single sandwich and a glass of skim milk, slipped on her reading glasses, and opened her new book. He had known immediately when he had seen her face that she'd already read it, but he loved her very much for not telling him.

"We can take it back tomorrow, sweetie," he said. "You don't have to sit there and pretend to enjoy it."

"It was a very enjoyable book," she told him. "Let's keep it because it was a gift from you." She smiled at him. She picked up the other book she had been working on and began to read.

He demolished the sandwiches in no time and drained the glass of milk, and then looked at her. Her hair was a little messy, and her glasses slid down her nose. She looked beautiful, serene, with a glow she hadn't had before. It felt good knowing that he had made her happy, knowing she thought him the most wonderful lover in the world. He still hadn't entirely gotten over the fact that he had been her first...a beautiful woman like her...and how very precious that knowledge was to him. He wondered about it, sensed that it involved deep pain.

"That was delicious," he commented. "When I was a kid I used to scarf grilled cheese down double time. My poor mom couldn't keep up.

Then I'd eat my sister's cause she never wanted to eat anything. It worked out well for both of us until my dad caught me one day and got on my case for taking the food from my sister's mouth." He stopped.

He had said more on the subject than he had planned to. He still didn't like to talk about it, not even with her.

Dana looked at him. She had a good idea what that had entailed, but she didn't say anything because she knew it would annoy him. She always hoped that one day he would really open up to her, but knew she couldn't rush it and was encouraged by the fact that he at least had begun to make brief references to some of the trauma he had endured while growing up.

"I'll make you another if you want," she said, "or," she smiled, "you can have mine."

"No, angel. Two is enough. I'm not 12 anymore. I'll tell you something though," he grinned, "It's nice being able to have as many as you want with no one around to tell you you can't. Kind of gives you a heady feeling of power being in charge of your life."

He read peacefully for awhile.

"Fox," she interrupted after a time, "Maybe we can move some more stuff tomorrow and do your fish tank. I was thinking that if we put your rent money in the bank, maybe we can save a down payment for a house."

"No way, Jose," he laughed. "Fox Mulder mowing grass...ain't gonna happen. Not even for the most beautiful redhead in the world."

"Well, a condo then. We should really move everything out before we have to pay another months rent, and if we wait till we go back to work..."

"Didn't I tell you earlier not to worry about that," he admonished." Anyway, there's plenty of time. I'd already mailed the rent check. We have a whole month." He knew he ought to tell her about the money he had inherited from his father, and he would, but he enjoyed her so much unspoiled. He had expected to find her closets jammed with clothes, but it hadn't been that way at all. She had explained that it was more economical to buy a few really good outfits for work. She had cooked a ham the day after they had gotten married, and the next day made pea soup with the bone. Margaret Scully had taught her daughters well, and nothing was going to convince her to throw away that ham bone. He loved her so much at that moment, knowing that they could lose everything, and she would still find a way to get by, would still care for him. Suddenly she came over and sat in his lap, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, just as she had tried to do the night before they had gotten married, the night when they had had the awful fight that had almost caused them to lose each other.

"What do you say we get an early start in the morning?" she asked him.

"Okay," he replied.

"What do you say we go to bed now so we can get up early?" she asked him unbuttoning another button.

"Don't you ever get enough?" he inquired amused.

"Enough what?" she inquired innocently, "Is there such a thing as enough?"

"I've created a monster," he moaned.

"Grrrrr.," she replied rubbing his nose with hers.

"Race you to the bed," he said removing her from his lap and getting up. "First one there gets on top." This time she had no intention of, nor did she, let him win.

She was drifting off to sleep in his arms when the phone rang.

He reached over to get it and knocked it down.

"Shit," he muttered. "Mulder."

"Why do you answer the phone like that every time I call?" asked Melissa at the other end.

"Because I drop the phone every time you call," he replied. "Hi Melissa. What do you want?"

"To tell my brother-in- law that I love him," she quipped. "Is Dana there?"

"Here Dana...it's your sister." She woke up and took the phone.

"Hi Lis."

"Just wanted to congratulate you sis...I think...and to tell you we put Gran on the plane for Ireland alive and kicking. Her heart's not in great shape, but she's still with us. She wouldn't let us interrupt your baby making to come to the airport. Says she's hanging around till she's sure we're pregnant. In my case that's going to mean a long wait."

"Oh God, Lis, that's wonderful, I mean about Gran.. not about you not being pregnant," said Dana, a weight lifting off of her shoulders.

She had been expecting to hear that Gran had passed. "Thanks for calling me...thanks so much."

"Okay, don't get mushy about it. Go back to making the baby," laughed her older sister, "and tell your hubby to stop saying shit every time he answers the damn phone. It's rude." Melissa put down the phone. She had been shocked as hell to learn about her sister's marriage, shocked and really pissed off that she had been in California and missed all the fun. Mom had made it sound like a real hoot.

"Oh, Fox, Gran's okay," Dana squealed. "They put her on the plane for Ireland today. I feel so much...I feel..."

"That's good news," he said gently slipping his arms back around her and pulling the sheets up over them, "wonderful news Dana. Maybe one day soon we can go visit her there. " Fox laughed suddenly, "That wiley old woman. I think she knew just what she was doing that day in the hospital. Maybe her name should be Fox."

He nestled down as close to her as he could get relieved, for he had sensed somehow when she had held his hand, that the woman had really wanted to die in Ireland and not Maryland. Perhaps their getting married had given her the strength to go on awhile longer.

Perhaps it was simply the fact that she had finally found someone that believed her story. He would probably never know for sure, but he was glad he would have a gran who loved him for at least a little while, even though she was far away. He was sorry that his own kids, when he had some, wouldn't have the chance to know her. He had been married three days, three of the most wonderful days in his life. He couldn't quite believe it. She moved next to him and murmured something in her sleep. He drifted off beside her wondering if he would have the energy to go back to work when their week was up.

Fox came in from his morning run, sweaty and not smelling too nice. It hadn't been easy to force himself to get up and exercise.

He was on his "honeymoon" and was getting plenty of a different kind of exercise, much more fun exercise, but he knew if he quit running he would never get himself back in shape again. He thought he'd take a quick shower, have a nice leisurely breakfast, maybe go back to bed with his wife...What he found was Dana dressed in a pair of old jeans and a shirt, her hair pulled back in rather messy fashion, standing outside the bathroom with a sponge in her gloved hand and a mop standing nearby.

"Hi sweetie," he said, "I need to..."

"Fox Mulder, I have three brothers all of whom have the same anatomy as you. Every Saturday morning Melissa and I had to get up and help Mom scrub the bathroom. I swore...I mean I swore that I would never...ever...again scrub pee off the side of the toilet for any man even if that meant I had to castrate my husband."

She glared at him.

"Well...uh...I guess that explains the virginity huh?" he quipped trying his best little boy grin. She started coming toward him. He backed away.

"I know you know how to shoot Mulder. I've seen you get perfect scores time after time at the range. Now if you can hit the goddamn target," she informed him slapping the sponge down into his hand. "You better get scrubbing while I look for my scalpel, and if it isn't done when I get back...and by the way I fell in at 2 am because you didn't put the seat down..." she walked away.

"Sheesh..." he said swatting her backside with his free hand..."Jeez Dana, it's not that big a deal."

She turned around and glared. "At 2 AM, its cold...I should have gotten my scalpel while you were sleeping." She continued her journey to the bedroom. "Keep in mind, Mulder, that you had NOT remembered to flush, which would have made it justifiable castration or homicide or something. I'd have walked, just like good old Lorna...Lorraine... what's her name last year."

"Okay, okay..." he muttered. He entered the bathroom and started to scrub. "Just wait," he thought. "I'll show you who's boss around here...yeah...right..." Still, he had to admit she was justified. It couldn't have been much fun, and she had let him sleep.

He supposed he was getting no more than he deserved by being put on toilet scrubbing duty.

* * *

Fortunately for him, she wasn't the type to hold a grudge, and when he was finished scrubbing and showering, she had coffee waiting for him.

They did sit down and have a leisurely breakfast. After that, they unpacked a few more boxes. The closet was now almost full.

"Makes you wonder where all this stuff comes from doesn't it?" he muttered. "We'll have to buy another bookcase to put here," he said looking at the pile of his books stacked neatly in a corner of the bedroom.

"Fox, I have no idea why a man needs such an extenive underwear collection," she replied, "I mean you have every looney tune character..."

"I like my Tweetie Bird boxers" he protested. He went over and whispered in her ear. "Justine thought they were adorable."

"Screw Justine..," she muttered with a flash of jealously.

"I tried, baby.,...believe me I tried..."

She laughed and bopped him on the head with a pillow. "I just bet you did. Want to wear your Tweetie Bird boxers for me? Then you can..."

"Uh uh..."

"Uh UH?" she squeaked.

"Not now, cause I'm taking you to Victoria's Secret. Right now, this minute. Let's go."

"Why do we need to go to Victoria's Secret?"

"Cause I said so. Comb your hair, Shorts. It's sticking up on top."

He sighed with relief when he found the green nightgown. It was the last one left, tucked in the back on a sale rack, but it was her size.

"Oh, Fox, that's gorgeous." She smiled. "And I like the price even better."

"Oh shut up about the money...I wanted to buy this for your birthday, but I couldn't then. You are going to wear this for me tonight...not for long...but I want to see you in it...hey...that's really neat looking underwear," he said suddenly, distracted now that he had found what he was looking for.

"But you need an underwear collection Shorts," he told her with a smile a few minutes later.

"Fox, $200 for underwear is a little bit nuts don't you think...and a lot of it is purple...I look awful in purple..."

"But it's my favorite color for underwear, and I think you'll look nice...It looked nice on Phoebe. It looked nice on Kristen..."

"I don't want to hear who it looked nice on, particularly Phoebe the Fiend, and who the hell is Kristen anyway?" she glared, but that little boy look and the light in his eyes always kind of got to her.

"Jeez, Wolfenstein, I'll have to do freelance autopsies to pay the bills."

"Shit...Shit...Shit," she'd gone through a ton of mail when they got home and filled the wastebasket with junk. Now there would be his and hers junk mail. Then she had decided to reconcile her checkbook.

She had been really pissed off when she had been 35cents off and it had taken her 10 minutes to find it. He had half watched her from the recliner with amusement, while reading his book. He wished she wouldn't be so ambitious. They had brought over the fish tank, but it sat in the corner ignored. He would set it up later and get himself some new fish soon. He swore he would.

"What are we going to do with the extra computer?" asked Dana before going on to the next piece of paper work.

"Mine's better. Let's give yours to Michael and Eileen. He's at the age where he would enjoy having one, and there's lots of software for little kids."

"We could sell it," she suggested.

"You are going to drive me crazy, woman. I'll call Bill and ask him if it's okay for the kid to have it," said Fox. "Would you do me a favor, sweetie? Open my bank statement, and let me know what the balance is." She didn't see the hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Oh jeez..." she muttered slitting the envelop and looking at the bottom line, "I don't need this. This is aggravation...I don't want aggravation right now. This is our honeymoon week. We need to go to the bank...and when we do they are going to charge $3.00 to talk to a teller because they made a mistake..."

"Am I overdrawn or something?" he inquired innocently.

"I don't know. According to this you've got $40,000 sitting in your checking account. Mr. Trump doesn't have $40,000 sitting in his checking account, non-the-less an FBI agent."

"Okay, let's go to the bank," he said, "We'll straighten out the confusion and I'll take you to dinner at Antonio's."

"I think we've spent enough this week," she replied, "on purple underwear that looks awful and wasn't on sale." She slipped her jacket on.

"I wanted to buy it, and I don't care about sales," he replied, too stubborn to admit that maybe he'd made a mistake and purple was definitely not her color. Besides he hadn't seen it yet.

"What was it about Mulder and women anyway?" she wondered once again as they entered the bank. Suddenly all the female bank officers were smiling.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mulder. How can we help you?" asked someone who must have been important because they came out of a large office when they saw him. She was gorgeous...brunette, at least 5'6" and Fox was definitely looking in the area of her chest. Dana stepped on his foot as subtly and painfully as she could.

"Hi. Ms. Kramer." He smiled. "My wife seems to think there is a mistake on my bank statement, and we need to discuss it. Anyway, I need to put her name on the accounts."

There was a change in expression at the mention of a wife, but it seemed to Dana that the woman was still going out of her way to kiss rear end as they were ushered into the office and offered coffee. The woman took the statement and made a few entries in the computer while Dana signed bank cards. He looked over and smiled. She was signing them Dana K. Mulder. They hadn't discussed which name she would use.

It was a given that she would keep Scully for work. That was necessary, but he hadn't asked her how she felt about taking his name.

He had teasingly called her Mrs. Mulder now and then, but not too much. He bent over and kissed the back of her neck. Dana handed the cards across the desk.

"Thank you, Mrs. Mulder," said the woman.

"Actually, that's Dr. I'm an MD," she replied knowing it sounded bitchy, but his eyes were straying in the direction of rather extensive cleavage again. "You are welcome." You could almost see the other woman wanting to go "Meow."

"The bank statement is correct," stated Ms. Kramer unless you've written a check for some huge amount that hasn't cleared yet. "You are a lucky woman, Dr. Mulder. You'll never have to worry about paying a bill as long as you live. Here is a print out of all the assets that we hold for you, Mr. Mulder. I hope it helps."

Dana took the print out and scanned it. Her mouth dropped open.

"Thank you," he said. "I need to order some new checks." He filled out the order form. "What's it going to be, sweetheart?" he asked her. "Looney Tunes, Beautiful Scenery, the Star Ship Enterprise?"

"But those checks cost," she started to say from force of habit.

"You pick," she quipped as he laughed at her. She wasn't surprised when he chose Marvin the Martian, tacky but distinctly Mulderesque.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded when they got outside.

"I don't know, Dana. I just wanted it to be a nice surprise. I never expected it. I knew dad had money, but he always swore he'd never leave it to me. He changed his mind right before he died," Fox lifted her chin a little afraid she might be mad at him. "Love me?"

"Forever," she replied seriously seeing the glint of insecurity in his eyes. "I tell you what, rich guy."

"What?"

"We can junk both computers and buy a Pentium 100 with a 28800 modem."

He laughed and slipped an arm around her. "Next week," he said.

"Right now I want to show off my new wife to Tony."

"Okay, but no talk about chastity belts," she admonished.

"Aw shucks, I planned to buy you one just in case you get curious when I'm on travel."

"Me curious? Not me, Wolfenstein. I've got the best there is."

She gazed up at him and gave him a radiant smile. "Not only well hung, but rich, and perfect in everyway except his taste in ties and underwear. He even pees in the bowl. Never misses."

He kissed the top of her head and thought that he was the luckiest man alive.

Sunday morning, blessed Sunday morning with a good thick newspaper to settle down with. You could kill a large part of the day with a Sunday paper and frequently he had. He eyed the neatly stacked paper sitting on the coffee table. Dana had already opened it. That was okay. He had slept late. He had been sleeping wonderfully lately, with no nightmares, for as long as six or seven hours at a stretch. He took the paper and a cup of coffee and settled in wondering briefly where she had gone. No matter. When she came back, she would settle down on the couch and finish reading the paper with him. Domestic bliss. A happy man with one day left on his vacation, he scattered the papers on the floor as was his habit, and picked up the funnies. That done, he picked up the "Outlook" section. He had been reading about half an hour when nature made a sudden call, so he grabbed the sports section and headed for the bathroom.

Dana came happily in the door. She had gotten up early and let him sleep, put coffee on and forced herself to go out for a jog. She had taken enough money in her hip pouch to go all the way to his favorite bakery and buy him the chocolate crossaints she knew he loved and had walked back feeling wonderful. She would take a shower, eat breakfast with him and maybe... It was a gorgeous Fall day, she was married, and they still had a day of honeymooning left to go. When she came back she saw the empty coffee mug sitting on the end table along with the remnants of last night's sunflower seed binge. Next to the chair was the newspaper scattered all over the light beige carpet she'd just had cleaned. Mulder was no where in sight.

"Oh well," she thought, she would have to talk to him about the carpet later. Newsprint would dirty it quickly. Judging by it's state, he must be done with the paper anyway. She picked it up and took it into the kitchen placing it neatly in the trash. Then she dumped the coffee grounds on top of it and started a fresh pot. She heard him in the bathroom and decided to wait on the shower until after breakfast. She was about to warm the croissants when she heard a bellow from the living room.

"Dana," it was somewhat reminiscent of Stanley Kowalski's famous "Stella.."

"What...what...?" she asked running, thinking something awful had happened.

"Where the hell is my newspaper?" he glared.

"You were finished with it so I put it in the trash," she squeaked realizing that she might just have made an error.

"What do you mean, I was finished with it? I'd barely started it."

"Well it was scattered all over, and I thought you must be done...and besides, the newsprint will stain my carpet," she said softly thinking "uh oh..."

"Well I wasn't done with it, and I want it back," he informed her annoyed.

"You...uh...can't have it, sweetheart," she said quietly.

'Why not?" he demanded

"Well, I put it in the trash..."

"Get it out of the trash.," he ordered. He was growing more annoyed by the second.

"I can't."

With a sigh, he went into the kitchen and retrieved the newspaper, shaking most of the coffee grinds off. "I don't believe this...I married a nut...I go into the bathroom, and she throws away my paper..." He headed back to the living room with the parts that were more or less dry and dropped them on the floor, scattering the remaining coffee grinds on the carpet.

"Fox, my carpet," she said angrily.

"Look Dana..."

"I just had that carpet cleaned..."

"Damn it..." He took his foot and ground the coffee grinds in a little deeper. "Let's get something straight right off the bat, okay. First, it isn't your carpet, it's our carpet. Second, I am not going to live in a f-----g museum, and third, when I'm finished with the paper I'll pick the damn thing up and throw it away myself, and if it takes me a week to do it, you'll just have to live with it." He thought he was being pretty cool about it. He hadn't raised his voice or anything, well not much anyway.

"Well, I'm not going to live in a pigsty," she informed him, " and you'd better not take a damned week to pick it up when your done, and I want that coffee stain out of OUR carpet now!"

"Fine, then get yourself some rug cleaner and clean up, but let me read my paper."

"I will not. You got it dirty."

"Then it's going to stay that way." He parked himself in the chair, picked up main section and hid his face. He looked very male, reminding her distinctly of her dad when he had gotten stubborn. He even used the same damn trick of hiding behind the paper. It was always at that point that her mother had had the good grace or sense to give in. Five minutes and a lot of silent cursing in the kitchen later, Dana was crawling beneath his legs with rug cleaner. He ignored her. Ten minutes later he patted the top of her head, while she rubbed her face against his leg. She growled that she wasn't a dog, but let him do it. He said she reminded him of a tabby kitten with that red hair, and that he liked it when she rubbed his leg that way.

Fifteen minutes later, they headed back to bed, the newspaper and carpet forgotten.

"Fox," she murmured, "I'm sorry I threw your paper away. It's just that when I was a kid with all those brothers and sisters, the house was always chaos no matter how hard we worked. I like things neat."

"Look, Shorts...I'm sorry about the rug...I'll try to be more considerate, but dad was always furious if the house wasn't perfect when he got home... I just can't take it. I like a little mess now and again."

"We could mess up this bed." she said.

"Oh, you mean the one you made when I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?" he inquired innocently.

She started to say something angry, but then saw the glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Maybe I'll never make it again," she grinned. "I need a shower Fox."

"Why bother? I'm going to have you sweating in no time."

"Promise?" she asked.

"Absolutely." He untied her jogging shoes. "Then we can take those chocolate croissants you bought into the bathroom and eat breakfast while we take a nice long soak..." He slid her sweat pants down over her hips. "And then," he said, removing her sweatshirt so that all she had on was the purple bra and panties he'd bought her, ",...and then..." He burst out laughing!

"What...WHAT?" she demanded sitting up.

"Oh, God, Dana, you do look absolutely awful in purple," he said seeing the expensive underwear he had so carefully chosen against her freckled redheaded skin.

She smacked him several times with the pillow before he could get the offending garments off her and get her into the position he liked her in the most when they were in the bedroom.


End file.
